Aid to the Church in Need: Zimbabwe: “End this horror,” says leading Archbishop

Zimbabwe: “End this horror,” says leading Archbishop

Posted by Press release on 15/5/2008, 8:49 am
Message modified by board administrator 7/8/2008, 1:30 pm

ACN News: Thursday, 15th May 2008 – ZIMBABWE

“End this horror,” says leading Archbishop
By John Newton

FOLLOWING a visit to Zimbabwe, the South African Bishop’s Conference (SACBC) has added its voice to those calling for an immediate end to the beatings, torture, and deaths which have darkened the country following its controversial elections.
The president of SACBC, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, Bishop of Johannesburg, and Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, Bishop of Durban, heard “first-hand accounts of systematic intimidation, violence and torture” when they visited the country last week.
This confirms previous reports received by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that tell how hundreds of people have been attacked and many homes destroyed by supporters of de facto President Robert Mugabe.
Last week ACN paid out an emergency grant of $30,000 to help needy children in the archdiocese of Bulawayo, where demonstrators against the violence were beaten by police earlier this month according to ‘Women of Zimbabwe Arise’ who organised the march.
Archbishop Tlhagale said: “This ‘reign of terror’ has seen many deaths, savage beatings and flight from family, homes and communities.”
Victims identified the perpetrators of the attacks as members of the country’s Armed Forces, the Police, and the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), as well as naming War Veterans, and members of the Youth Militia.
According to Archbishop Tlhagale, it is not only those believed to have voted against Mugabe who have been targeted, but also Polling Officers.
The President of the South African Bishop’s Conference called on “all political parties to reign in their supporters and end this horror.”
The Archbishop of the South African Bishop’s Conference ended his statement by questioning whether a “free and fair” run-off election was possible if there was no will to end the violence, and he called for International Election Observers to be deployed immediately.
He said: “A run-off election in Zimbabwe will not be possible without an immediate end to intimidation, violence and torture and the deployment of reliable international election observers.”
The latest news from Zimbabwe is that the run-off election is expected in three months, but some are speculating that it may be up to a year.
Last week the Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe joined other national Church leaders to decry the military’s vicious and organised attacks on civilians “accused of campaigning or voting for the ‘wrong’ political party in the March 29, 2008 elections”.
They said: “People are being abducted, tortured, humiliated … and in some cases people are being murdered.”
Aid to the Church in Need is set to pay more than $250,000 in aid for Zimbabwe over the course of 2008.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information please contact the Sydney office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web:www.aidtochurch.org

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org